-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The world now knows that the remains of Richard III -- the final Plantagenet king of England who fell at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 -- were under a parking lot . By most accounts , the dead monarch 's corpse was unceremoniously carried back to nearby Leicester and buried at the church of the Greyfriars , where it was lost for more than 500 years .

The odds that archaeologists might recover Richard III 's remains more than a half millennium later were exceptionally slim . After DNA testing and further analysis , the University of Leicester Archaeological Services was able to confirm beyond a reasonable doubt that the skeleton indeed was that of Richard III .

Archaeologists rarely search for individuals , let alone lost monarchs , and the Leicester excavation was focused on analyzing the medieval friary at which Richard III was rumored to be buried . Nevertheless , archaeologists share the popular curiosity about famous personalities and the larger stories their lives and mortal remains might tell .

If we are excavating missing people from Richard III 's past , then we should start with the remains of the so-called `` Princes in the Tower '' -- that is , his nephews Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury .

Richard III : Is this the face that launched 1,000 myths ?

The princes were held in the Tower of London and likely murdered around 1483 at Richard III 's command . Their rumored remains now rest under Westminster Abbey , and a survey of the remains in 1933 found two youth 's partial skeletons with a random mix of animal bones . DNA analysis alone is not enough to seal this case , however , and any conclusion would neither incriminate Richard III nor prove his innocence , so such a study would mostly be a public curiosity .

Amelia Earhart 's plane went down in the Pacific in 1937 , unleashing decades of curiosity about the fate of Earhart and her navigator , Fred Noonan . Earhart has long been viewed as a symbol of bravery and feminism , and after intensive but unsuccessful efforts to locate her in 1937 , the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery attempted to find Earhart in the late 1980s . Enlisting archaeologist Tom King , a shoe was recovered in a location with circumstantial evidence of Earhart 's plane , but nothing substantial has turned up .

An interesting archaeological mystery is the disappearance of the Roanoke colony from contemporary North Carolina in 1587 . An English crew left the Roanoke colony that August with plans to return the following year , but by the time the English returned in 1590 , the settlement was empty . The missing colonists might have been wiped out by indigenous neighbors , captured by those neighbors or joined those native communities .

An archaeological investigation by East Carolina University recovered some 16th century material culture , including a ring linked to a colonist . But shoreline erosion removed much of the archaeological evidence associated with the colony . DNA testing has also been conducted with the argument that the colony became part of the neighboring indigenous groups . Nevertheless , there 's been no satisfying evidence to resolve precisely what happened to the Roanoke colony .

Few historical figures inspire as much curiosity as Genghis Khan , the military leader and empire builder who unified the disparate groups scattered across present-day Mongolia . When he died in 1227 , Genghis Khan was buried in an exceptionally well-concealed , unmarked tomb whose location had become a mystery a century later .

A 2003 study suggested that nearly 8 % of the men living in the former Mongol Empire share a genetic lineage that was likely descended from Khan and his male relatives . Eight centuries later , Khan 's lost tomb would shed light on the ritual practices associated with one of history 's most powerful empires and its best-known leader .

As we continue to be captivated by the dramatic discovery of Richard III 's remains , we should keep in mind that it 's just one piece of material culture from a complex site that tells a story that will reach well beyond the mere hunt for a monarch 's grave .

What the excavation reveals about medieval warfare , life among the wealthiest 15th century people and everyday life in a late medieval friary could be even more compelling .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. Mullins .

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Paul Mullins : The odds of discovering Richard III 's remains were exceptionally slim

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Mullins : Archaeologists rarely search for individuals , let alone lost monarchs

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He says that some personalities fascinate us , including Amelia Earhart , Genghis Khan

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Mullins : Big discoveries can give us compelling glimpses into past history and culture